IF the gun go off, and I am killed, I'll be damned," was the rapid thought of a young gamekeeper, as his foot stumbled on the fence he was just crossing, whilst he held in his hand a gun loaded and at “full-cock." “Lord have mercy on my soul," was his immediate and awfully earnest prayer.
What big events often arise out of very small things! That stumble on the fence originated a chain of conversions, the effects of which are being felt now, as the grand and blessed results of them will tell on eternity, and cause a fuller anthem of praise to rise to Him whose ear is always open to the faintest and most informal prayer, whilst His gracious hand is ready to save in a moment any soul, no matter who or what, when or where, that, under a sense of guilt, cries to for mercy.
Yes, my reader, assuming that you are one of such, I have glorious news for you—news that announce IMMEDIATE SALVATION, this moment, now I Not something gradual or progressive, or demanding a period of time for its accomplishment, but that which can fit you for the blessed presence of God in a moment of time!
Listen not to those who would say that salvation is a lengthy process, consisting in a patient victory over besetting sins—the mortification of the body —the assimilation of the mind to religious dogmas, until, in a supposed result, the lion becomes the lamb, and the sinner is gradually changed into the saint.
Don't listen to such theology. Had a lengthened time been necessary, you may be sure that Christ would never have said to the penitent thief, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," or Paul have preached,” Behold, now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." A progressive salvation would have ill suited the young keeper as he fell on his loaded gun; nay, it would have secured, had he died, his damnation.
Believe me, the Word of God always and only presents salvation as a thing to be had in a moment, and never as a thing of attainment or gradual acquisition.
The apprehension of it in the soul may, of course, be gradual—specially in days of clouded Gospel truth—but the thing itself, coming from God as it does, is implanted in the soul that believes far more quickly than the eye can twinkle.
“'Twixt the saddle and the ground,
I mercy sought and mercy found,”
said a fine saint of olden time. Now this may prepare you for the instantaneous conversion of the keeper—for truly converted to God he was in that moment of time.
That stumble into the jaws of death, as he supposed, was his step into life eternal—that gun, the instrument of death, was to him the cause of salvation. After falling he found that the muzzle of the gun had sunk into the ground, and that the dreaded explosion had not taken place. Unhurt he rose from the place of his fall, but he rose a saved man!
“Make haste and come down," said the Lord to Zaccheus, "for to-day I must abide in thy house.” Zaccheus ascended the tree a sinner, he descended it a saint; for you cannot "come down" to Jesus without getting salvation! But in this old story there are two "comes"—the one is the coming of Jesus to Zaccheus, the other the coming of Zaccheus to Jesus. “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost;" the second would have been impossible without the first, but the first makes the second divinely possible. If Jesus came for the lost, then the lost may come to Jesus.
Yes, thank God, they may come, and come now, and in coming they are saved; a seeking Saviour and a seeking sinner form a perfect picture, and the one is the complement of the other.
Some time after the above, at the close of a Gospel meeting, another young man remained for the sake of private conversation. He was anxious, convicted of sin, and desiring peace with God. A few words of Scripture applied by the Spirit chased the doubts away. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" settled every soul difficulty with him.
“Have you been long anxious?" I said to him.
“Yes, for some time; and the only man that ever spoke to me about my soul was my brother," said he.
That brother was the keeper!
Happy fruit of faith! When Christ is enjoyed He is also proclaimed. He cannot be in the heart, in the affections, and not on the tongue or lip. The confession of His dear name is the simple, spontaneous outflow of the heart that really believes; and the greater the abundance in the heart so will be the confession of the mouth.
And so the circle increased, for no sooner did this second soul get everlasting life than he, too, in like manner, announced the fact to another brother, who, with others of the same family, were reached by saving grace as well.
“He first findeth his own brother, Simon." Yes, "first" but not last, for whilst divine charity begins at home it does not end there. However, it is perfectly right in beginning at home. “Go home to thy friends," said the Lord to a man who once had a legion of devils, but now a legion of blessings, “and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.”
This kind of testimony is always of use. It is fresh and real and personal. It may cause a little irritation where ties are so close, but to be irritated out of sin or self-righteousness by a brother or a friend is better than no irritation and death. What an honor to be the channel of blessing to those you love the dearest!
And this has been one of the far-reaching effects of the keeper's conversion. What a joy Now, dear reader, what about yourself? It is high time you should cry, “Lord have mercy on my soul “too. Is it not? Had you to die this moment, are you ready?
I beseech you not to mistake the meaning of my story by supposing that, because salvation is the immediate portion of the soul that truly turns to God, you may therefore take your time. Such a thought is the abuse of grace.
No, the coming of Christ, His death and resurrection, have made it a possibility for God to save you, but not an obligation. Take care that you do not presume on His long-suffering. Depend upon it, there's many a soul in hell that always intended to turn to the Lord, but kept on deferring till the last moment, and then he was just too late. He “knew not the time of his visitation," and what then? "Let him alone I" Take heed, take heed. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”
“What, sinner, canst thou do?
Where, sinner, canst thou fly?
Eternal wrath hangs o'er thy head,
And judgment lingers nigh.
“This only thou canst do, —
Believe in Christ and live;
Fly to the shelter of His blood,
And peace with God receive.”
J. W. S.